Page 53 of Joey

“Gay for you?”

I shake my head and smile. “Maybe a little bit of that.”

“But you like girls?”

“Brooke—“

“I’m just confused, OK? Spell it out for me.”

“I can’t spell it out because I don’t really understand it. We’re just… us. That’s all.”

“That’s all? And there’s no feelings? About me, or them, or otherwise?”

I get it. I’m not a dumb dude. I know what she’s saying. This only goes two ways. One. She wants me to be jealous. She wants me to claim her as mine and tell Huck and Wald to back off. Or two. She wants me to admit that Huck, and Wald, and I sometimes… share. And that she could be that girl.

She feels this to be true and we all know Wald and Huck feel this to be true. So she wants me to admit that there’s something more going on here than just a custody scheme.

But I’m not gonna.

I’m not playing this game.

She’s not mine. She’s just a girl. A very… interesting, but also nice, girl, from what I can tell. With a specific skillset I need to get my daughter back.

“That’s all it is,” I say.

“OK.” She nods. “Fine. Because Wald is kinda my type.”

“Good,” I say. “He’s a pretty great dude. You have my blessing. But he should probably not come with us tomorrow.”

“What’s tomorrow?”

“We’re buying a house?” I say. Like duh. “And I’m taking you ring shopping. I think you should have an engagement ring.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“What?”

“Nothing,” she says, shaking her head. “Better get changed. We have memories to make.”

She brushes past me, opens the door, and disappears, closing it behind her.

I don’t have winter clothes so I stand there for a minute or two, trying to figure out if Wald’s little plan is gonna fuck up my chances with Maisy.

Girls are weird about this boyfriend stuff. And Brooke could become a problem if she can’t get past me and move on to Wald.

Because while I like her, I’m truly not interested in playing this little game right now. I have more important things to think about than sex.

I grab a zippered hoodie from my closet—because that’s the only semi-warm clothing I have at the moment—and go back into the living room. Huck is wearing the jacket he came with when we arrived in the city—just a lightweight black bomber—and Wald has on a classic Harrington in dark brown.

“OK,” Wald says. “We’re just gonna do some selfies for this. Gather round, kids.” We all squish together, my arm around Brooke’s shoulders, her arm around my waist. Huck crowds me on the other side and Wald leans in to Brooke.

I glance at his hand as it slips down to rest on her ass.

She shoots him a look. He smiles and shrugs at her.

“Everyone smile!” Huck says, holding the phone at arm’s length. Then he says, “Closer. We’re not all in the frame.”

And we squish closer, our cheeks all pressing together so I can feel Huck’s stubble on one side and Brooke’s smooth skin on the other.